r\dd-ress dehvereci bcF 



tUe la\l-iTiaclge Ccl 



6TC 



0-ni-z.ation 



<Jocie.tv ov the Foixrtli of July, 




Class_£A4Li_ 
Book . W^a 



AN ADDRESS, 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



Tallmadge Colonization Society, 

/ /// 

Oil the !?•«-»».#»- «^ jr„-^j «a»s - 



Moil. C£.li!l^HA WHITTl.ElSSEl' 

Member of Congress. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE SOCIETY. 



THE PROCEEDS ARISING PRoat ^.ttot r.,.,,,^ „„_ „^„^ „,„ ^ ^^ 

TED TO COLONIZING THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR 
ON THE COAST OF AFRICA. 



5 RAVENNA ; 
Printed at the Office op the Ohio Stab. 

/uL Y— 1833, 



N\ V 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Tallmauge Colonization Society — July 4, 1933. 
nesohed, That the President of this Society express to the "o"- ^'- 
Whittlesey, their grateful thanks for the Address with which he has 
fttvutcd ua j ^r^A rpQuest of him a copy for publication. 

Caneield, July 6th, 1833. 
Dear Sir— The Address I delivered at Tallmadge on the 4th inst. is 
committed to you, to dispose of as you shall think will best advance the 
cause of colonization, and the interests of our beloved country. It was 
written at intervals, when my time was much devoted to my professional 
and other business, without the least expectation it would appear m 
print • but I do not feel myself at liberty to decline your request, consider, 
ing that Tallmadge has been the field where the abolition missionaries 
have principally labored. I endeavored to enforce the position, that 
the success of the abolitionists would destroy the Union, and annul the 
constitution ; which I understood Professor Green in his criticism, and 
in answer to an inquiry I made of him, distinctly to admit, and avow. 
It is time for those who wish to perpetuate the government and the con- 
stitution, to rally for their support, and to guard them from the influence 
of fanaticism, in whatever garb it may appear. Be pleased to accept 
for yourself, and to communicate to the officers and members ot the 
Society of which you are the organ, an assurance of my high conside- 
ration and esteem. 

Very respectfully, Yours, „„„,, 



Richard Fenn, Esq. President of the > 
Colonization Sociely of Tallmadi^c. < 



[ 3 ] 



OF 

HOXT. ELZSHA 'WHITTLESE'Sr. 



Members op the Colonization Societv, 
AND Fellow-Citizens : 
1 saouia do injustice to my own feelings, if I did not cXprg's'i^ 
my high gratification, in having been requested by a committee of 
the Colonization Society in this town, to address you on this nation- 
al anniversary. Similar requests have been made before, when it 
was out of my power to comply with them, from public, professional, 
or private engagements. There is one thing, that renders the task 
assigned to me unpleasant ; and that is, the divisions that exist 
among you on the subject of colonization. Could I have addressed 
you on previous anniversaries, I should have found you on this ques- 
tion united, and blending your energies and your means, as you have 
in most, if not all of the benevolent projects of the day, designed 
to advance either the moral or intellectual condition of man. If it 
had been predicted a twelvemonth past, that in some one of the great 
subjects in which you have all taken so deep an interest, there would 
at this time have been dissentions, I should have selected the subject 
of colonization as the last, on which different opinions could be en- 
tertained. The civilizing and christianizing the Indians, in the nor- 
thern sections of the United States, has been prosecuted with zeal 
for near two centuries ; and although the instances are not very 
frequent, when these sons of the forest have been reclaimed, still 

yoii j^Q^,.a<.^--- l_ >J-? 1 U,^„..„^ „.„j» l-..-.lLojria tho AnsT va'iU i^nrnp, 

when they shall abandon the chase, and betake themselves to tilling 
the ground for a subsistence ; and when they will no more worship 
a senseless idol, nor the sun in the firmament ; but Him who hath 
created all thing?. Or had it been predicted, that any one society 
within the circle of my acquaintance, would be distracted, by the 
question of immediate abolition of slavery, I should have selected 
this, as the last to be thus affected. The stabiUty of your charac- 
ter, and your intelligence, would in my contemplation have saved 
you from embracing what I believe to be gross error. It shall be 
my object to show, (after some necessary preliminary remarks.) 1st, 



[ 4 ] 

that the colonization society merits the confidence of all : and 2ii 
that immediate abolition should not find advocates with any. 

In discussing these points, it shall be my aim not to vvound unne- 
cessarily, the feelings of those who arc converts to the new doctrine 
of abolition: but I will appeal to their sober judgments, and not to 
their passions, with the hope, that some of them may pause, before 
they become identified with a party whose predominance will dis- 
pense with the celebration of this national anniversary. The disco- 
very and settlement of America, have produced great changes in 
the social and political relations of man ; and their ultimate conse- 
quences, are beyond the foresight of human discernment, or antici- 
pation. While this Republic has been an asylum for the oppressed 
of all civilized nations, it is a lamentable truth, that a portion of the 
human family is held in bondage, in contradiction to the annunciation 

of the Declaration of Independence, that "all men are born free 
and equal." rnc nioi am t^,. -...,, vi.»v „.. 1 _..„ ...^.^^^ ^cr^pn^ori 

the James River in Virginia, in 1620, Why the Supreme Ruler per- 
mitted the abduction of the Africans, their transportation to this 
t!Ountry, and their bondage, is beyond our finite comprehension : but 
in this,"^as in all the ways of his Providence, it is our duty to confide 
in his wisdom, and to remain i'lrm In the belief, that his purposes will 
he accomphshed. The introduction of slaves into the different colo- 
nies, was encouraged by the British Government : and although the 
puritans who settled New-England, were driven from the altars of their 
fatl^ers by persecution, even tlicy were not conscientiously scru* 
pulous against holding their fellow men in bondage : and if slavery 
did not exist as extensively in the northern, as in the southern states, 
climate was a more efficient preventive than conscience. The rigor 
of a northern climate was not congenial to the blacks ; the compar- 
ative sterility of the soil, was not inviting to their natural indolence 
and effeminacy ; and the production would not defray the expense of 
slave labor — while a southern climate approximated toward that of 
Africa, the soil was wrought with less labor, and the productions of 
t])e earth were more abundant, and brought higher prices in foreign 
markets, when they did not compete witli those o( other countries. 
Not only did the British (government pnr'.-vv-r'" *i-" ^-^.'-.^lurfinn of 
slaves into tno soumein siuica, um 11 enacfecl laws, tendmg to in- 
crease the value of slave labor in the British \> est India Islands, by 
imposing heavy duties on the production of those possessions, when 
imported into the colonies from other countries. Hence, as early 
as 1733, a duty of nme pence sterling, was imposed on every gallon 
of rum, six pence on every gallon of molasses, and five shillings on 
every hundred weight of sugar, when imported into the plantations 
fron* other colonics. \Virile (his policy was pursued with her colonies, 
thereby enriching her treasury and her subjects at home, slavery 
Avas not permitted within the Uingdom of Great Britain ; and it has 



[ 5 J 

been the pride of her orator?, that ''the Biitish law makes hberty 
commensurate with, and inseparable from the British soil, which 
proclaims even to the sti anger and the sojourntr, the moment he 
sets his toot upon British earth, th .t the ground on which he stands 
is holy, and consecrated by the genius oi universal emancipation." 

Several ofthe provinces, before the revokition, foresaw the evils of 
slavery, and presented humble petitions to the throne, to prevent the 
importation of slaves. The Burgesses of Virginia, implored the 
King " to remove those restraints on the government of the colony, 
which inhibited them from assenting to such laws as might check so 
very pernicious a commerce ;" and the address contains the following 
prophetic languaue : — "The importation of slaves into the colonies 
from the coast of Africa, has long been considered as a trade of great 
inhumanity ; and under its encouragement, we have too much reason 

to fear, will endanger the very existence of your Majesty's domin- 

l^x,^ \v^ „ -■^-'- ••-"« — "^ t-rr- jv/.., ...ojcciv s suOjccts m GrcEt 

Britain, may reap emolument from thi< sort of traffic : but when 
we consider that it greatly retards the settlement of the colonies with 
more white inhabitants, and may in time have the most destructive in- 
fluence, we pi-esume to hope, that the inttnests of a ^ew will be dis- 
regarded, whfn placed in competition with the security and happi- 
ness of such numbers of your majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects." 
When speaking of the inhumanity of the slave trade, and the evils 
it has entailed on the countty, those of the present generation are 
apt to attach the blame exclusively to the inhabitants in the southern 
states ; whereas, it will be found, on examining the early history of 
those states, that slavery was imposed upon them, against their re- 
monstrances, and entreaties, by that very government, whose jjro/es- 
sed policy it now is, when slave labor no longer enriches her, to cut 
asunder the tie that binds the slave to his master. I have dwelt 
longer on the origin o( slavery in this country, and on the measures 
of the British Government, than I should otherwise have done, if I 
had not lately seen a letter written by an American, (whom I sup> 
pose to be Mr. Garrison,)* in England, giving an account of the pro>. 
ceedings of a meeting of an anti-slavery association, in which he 
savs. C\ rite thii apntimpnt. nnt havuig the paper before me, I do not 
know as I use the exaci wuru;*, / nt waa asuauieu ui uis country, and 

hid his face, for fear he should be recognized as an American. I do 
not envv the feelings of any American, who has thus spoken o( his 
country in the face of the world ; of the country that gave him birth, 

and to whose institutions he is itrdebted for whatever he possesses. 

Ashamed of his country ! Yes ; of that country that is unrivalled 
in her free institutions — in her prosperity — in her enterprises — and 
in her march of intellect. Ashamed of that country, whose free in- 

* Professor Green, in asutisequeni address, r:aid the person alluded to was not Mr. G. bot 
an American from Massachusetts. The error is corrected. 



[ G ] 

stitutions arc models for lliose who are regaining their liberty', by 
disputing " the divine right of Kings !" If he was ashamed of his 
country, because slavery is tolerated here, and she had been re= 
proachcd for it by Englishmen ; wliy did he not avail himself of the 
occasion, to stand forth in defence of his country's honor, and trace 
the evils of slavery to the British Government, which forced them 
UDon us, against our remonstrances, and our humble petitions? — 
Why did he not crimson the cheeks of a British audience, by adver- 
ting to a treaty made by their government with Spain in 1713, stip- 
ulating to import 144,000 negroes to be held in perpetual slavery? 
If he had done this,, it would have been in time for him afterwards, 
to have proclaimed, he was ashamed of his country, and have hid his 
face in viev/ of her dishonor ! 

Slavery was legalized in most if not in all the states, at the com- 
mencement, and until after the close of the revolution ; and at the 
south, property loa luij^o aniuuui wub vtjiv^o i.. „i rn._ ..uto- 

ber of slaves in the middle and eastern states, was comparatively- 
small ; and early measures were taken by a part of them, for a gra- 
dual emancipafion of those they held in bondage. The whites were 
sufficient for all the purposes of agriculture, commerce, and manu- 
factures ; and the immediate removal of all the blacks, would not se- 
riously have eifecttd any of these great interest^ ; nor was the indi- 
vidual loss of property very great, when ihe abolition of slavery took 
place. Notwithstanding the rapid increase of the white population 
in New-York, and the great disparity between the number of the 
whites and the blacks, still slavery has existed there until within a 
very short period. During the war, and under the confederation, 
the states retained their sovereignty and power over the subject; 
and it was not until the formation of the constitution, that the pow- 
er to check the slave trade was relinquished to the general govern- 
ment. There are those in this audience whose ages warrant me in 
sayin;r, they know from having lived at that period ; and those who 
have since come upon the stage, must have learned from their gene- 
ral reading, that the articles of confederation were found to be whol- 
ly inadequate for the purpose of either conducting our internal con* 
cerns, or maintaining our commerce abroad, w. Tv^. a;o-i.^vo;r,cr ouv 
duty lowarus mc mumi. tiiwv.-. — uiiu iiiui me period tor lormmga Ge- 
neral Government, was looked for with the deepest solicitude, by most 
of those who had b^en thf most cousfiicuous in conducting the na- 
tion through the war. Mutual jealousies, and conflicting interests 
existed, and to allay the one, and conciliate the other, put in requi- 
sition, all the wisdom, intelligence and prudence, that so pre-emi- 
nently distinguished the statesmen of that period. Each State was 
sovereign, and political power was to be so adjusted, as to impart to 
the general govermnent sulficient to answer the great ends of its 
creation, with the least violation of the rights of the states, of which 



I 7'] 

the object oi the grant was susceptible. The luuuber ot slaves at 
ihe formation of the constitution, in the states of Maryland, Virginia, 
Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, exceeded 
six hundred thousand ; whose value to the owners was more than 
one hundred and eighty millions of dollars. The states were em- 
barrassed by a protracted war, that had wasted their finances, and 
heavily taxed human Ufe in achieving their independence. If the 
abolition of slavery had then been demanded, the convention that 
met at Philadelphia on the 14th of May 1787, to form a constitution, 
would not have remained in session a day. The present generation 
cannot form an accurate idea of that important crisis, without atten- 
tively examining the resolutions passed by the legislatures of the res- 
pective states, approving the call of a convention. The indcpenderice 
of the states had been acknowledged ; but there was no controlling 
power over them ; civil divisions were engendered ; they were not 
o^,-^^ «*■ v,„»v-.,» .^ .-^-j-u-.-i rtM. - I — 3 — f,- v^r tko Vir- 
ginia act, expressed the almost universal sentiment that then pre- 
vailed throughout all the states. " The crisis is arrived at which the 
good people of America are to decide the solemn question, whether 
thev will by wise and magnanimous efforts, reap the just fruits of that 
independence which they have so gloriously acquired, and of that 
union which they have cemented with so much of their common 
blood ; or whether by giving way to unmanly jealousies, and preju- 
dices, or to partial and transitory interests, they will renounce the 
auspicious blessings prepared for them by the revolution, and furnish 
to its enemies an eventual triumph over those, by whose virtue and 
valor, it has been accomplished. The same extended and noble 
pohcy, and the same fraternal and affectionate sentiments, which 
originally determined the citizens of this commonwealth^ to unite 
with their brethren of the other states, in establishing a federal gov- 
ernment, cannot but be felt with equal force now, as motives to lay 
aside every inferior consideration, and to concur in such further 
concessions and provisions, as may be necessary to secure the great 
objects for which that government was instituted, and to render the 
United States as happy in peace, as they have been glorious in 

war." 

It wa« nof ii*i*:i «<V — a1,» _j„^i.: — _r xi-- x:x.-i: — , tl-.of tliA 

European powers, and particularly Great Britain, abandoned the 
fond hope, that we should not be able to establish a general, or 
maintain a republican form of government. 

A perplexing and difficult question to dispose of by the conven- 
tion, was the basis of representation : but no one presumed to doubt 
the master held his slave, as an article of property wholly without 
the power of the general government to control ; while the political 
weight which should be given to him, was deemed to be within the 
scope of the powers of the convention, and to be settled by compact. 



[ s 1 

Vou all know the lepresentation for the slaves was fixed at three- 
fifths. Taxation, without representation, had been one of the -Griev- 
ances complained of by the colonies; and if the slaves had^'been 
excluded from any representation, the free States, to preserve the 
semblance of consistency, must have discharged the debt of the rev- 
olution, and have borne in all after times the expenses of the Gov- 
ernment, according to the representation of the v/hite population. 
If the abolition of slavery had been proposed, the South would have 
insisted on an equivalent, which was without the power of the other 
States to have yielded or given. 

Why the slave trade was not prohibited, at the formation of the 
Constitution, is less satisfactory to my mind. The committee of de- 
tail to whom the drafting of a constitution was referred, consisted of 
Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina, Mr. Randolph of Virginia, Mr. 
Wijlson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Gorham of Massachusetts, and Mr. 

the non-slaveholding States. The committee reported on the 6th 
of August 1787, after the convention had been in session near three 
months, and after the various propositions and amendments had 
been freely and at length discussed. The 4th section of the 7th ar- 
ticle was as follows : " No tax, or other duty, shall be laid by the 
Legislature on articles exported from any state, nor on the migra- 
tion, or importation, of such persons as the several states shall think 
proper to admit : nor shall such migration or importation be pro- 
hibited." 

On the 2 1st of August, a motion was made to insert the word 
"free" before the word "persons," so as to restrict the prohibition 
to such "/ree persons " as the several States should think proper to 
admit. This motion was not decided ; nor do the journals show by 
whom it was made ; and on the next day, this section with others were 
referred to a committee appointed by ballot, consisting of one mem- 
ber from each State. This committee consisted of Mr. Langdon of 
New Hampshire, Mr. King of Massachusetts, Mr. Johnston of Con- 
necticut, Mr. Livingston of New Jersey, Mr. Clymer of Pennsylva- 
nia, Mr. Dickinson of Delaware, Mr. Martin of Maryland, Mr. 
Madison of Virginia, Mr. Vl^illiamson of Noi-tK o^.^i;...., m.. rink- 

*iov ^f c?--.tL r^ i:_„ 1 i\/|„ TJ^M".:- ~c r^ «r!". On the ii4th 

of August, Mr. Livingston reported the following, as a substitute 
for so much of the 4th article of the 7th section as was referred to 
the committee : " The migration or improtation of such persons as 
the several states now existing, shall think proper to admit, shall not 
be prohibited by the Legislature prior to the year 1 800 ; but a tax 
or duty may be imposed on such migration or importation, at a "-ate 
not exceeding the average of the duties laid on imports." On the 
next day the time within which slaves might be imported was extend- 
ed to the year 1808. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connccti- 



[91 

cut Mar viand, North Carolina, South CaroUna, and Georgia, vo^- 
ti '^ In the affirmative. ; and New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware 
andViro-inia in the ne-ative. The section was further amended 
without"a division, by inserting a clause that Congress m.g^.t impose 
a n^x of ten dollars for each person, so imported ; and the section 
thus ame^.led was ao-r-^ed to, without a division, as it now stands in 
thrco'stitution. lt%hus appears, that the -Po^:;^;-^^^^^^"^^^ 
without restriction, was recommended by a committee, ^ »^ a J only 
of whom was from the free states ; that ^f^^^-f ^f ' ^^'"^^.^l/Zr 
New Jersey made a repoit limiting the period to 1800 ; ttiat all me 
Now England states, represented in the convention, voted to extena 
the time to 1808, while Delaware and Virginia voted in the negative. 
If the New England states had voicd in the negative, the proposition 
would not have carried. 1 have not concocted these facts, by way 

cils than those who participated in the formation ot the constitu- 
tion It is a subject of deep regret, however, in which the South- 
ern states participate, that the slave trade was not prohibited by 
the convention, from and after the adoption of the constitution. 

The diff<-rent censuses show the number of slaves to be as follows : 
In 1790, 697,697; in 1800, 896,849; in 1810, 1,191,364; m 
IS^'A 1,538,128 ; and in 1830, 2,011,320. 

The alarming increase of slaves, had attracted the attention ol 
several distinguished gentlemen at the south, long before the for- 
mation of the Colonization Society, in the winter of 1816 and 1 /. 
Various projects were suggested, and among them was one to colo- 
nize the free blacks on the western vacant lands. This was objec- 
tionable, as they might in the process of time become dangerous 
neighbors. Another was to make an arrangement with the colony 
at Sierra Leone. Mr. Jefferson opened a correspondence with the 
companv, under a resolution passed by the Legislature of Virginia 
in 1801"; but without success. Dr. Thornton, of Washington, in 
1787, made arrangements to plant a colony on the western coast o. 
Africa, by emigrants from Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, whicn 
fQ-.loa Co. tK,. .^\..^>. v^f f«r.a». The idea of colonizing the free people 
of color, and such as might to «^..„^^i.ct.a c^. ci.c.c [.u. j^usc, har. 
never been abandoned by very many of the distinguished men in Vir- 
ginia, from the time it was suggested by Mr. Jefferson in 1777, to 
the present time ; and the cause has, during all this period, gained 
strength. 

Various causes have conspired to retard the prosecution ot a plan, 
prompted by a sense of justifee,' the peace and friendship of the 
white population, and the most enlarged philanthropy. From the 
peace of 1783, to 1787, we had no General Government ; and the 
states, as well as individuals, were employed in repairing the losses 

B 



L lOj 

sustained by the war. After the adoption of the constitution, seve= 
ral years were consumed in organizing the Government, and sup- 
pressing internal dissentions. From the commencement of the 
French revolution, to the dethronement of Buonaparte, the Europe- 
an powers were engaged in desolating wars, except at short intervals ; 
and during the same period, our own commerce was swept from 
the ocean by the two great belligerent powers ; or suffered to peiish 
by the enactment of our own Government ; and we were involved 
in a war of near three years continuance. Until peace was resto- 
red, the time was not propitious for maturing any extensive scheme 
for ameliorating the condition of any large portion of the human 
family. More has been accomplished since 1815, to elevate the 
moral character of man, in the establishment or extension of bible 
societies, sabbath schools, foreign and domestic missions, educa- 
tion and temperate societies — and for the relief of the indigent in 
the organization oi nuuicinc iissuuianujio — ana r^. -».i_:.„:„ ti,^ vi- 
cious, in the establishment of houses for juvenile delinquents, in the 
principal towns and cities — and for relieving the distressed, in the 
establishment of hospitals and asylums — than was accomplished in 
the previous century. MiracJes have not been wrought ; but the 
deaf and dumb have become learned in the sciences, and the blind 
have been taught to read ; whole tribes and nations in the South 
Seas have been christianized — the ignorant have been instructed — 
the intemperate have been reclaimed — and the indigent and distres- 
sed relieved. The policy of kingdoms and states, has radically 
changed. Formeily, all ditHcuities between sovereign powers, not 
arranged by treaty, were decided by force ; now, wars have nearly 
ceased, by appealing to reason, and a moral sense of right and 
wrong, or by the arbitrament of another sovereign power. Such is 
the era in which we live. Among the most important of all the as- 
sociations, of which our own time imparts any knowledge, or histo- 
ry records, whether considered as an act of justice to the degraded, 
and enslaved African, or in the light of the most liberal and enlar- 
ged philanthrophy, or as the means of civilizing and christianizing 
one hundred and fifty millions of human beings — is the Colonization 

Society. 

Pcavc, t.o.^;.-j, ^o.v,.:xi.^-i +1,0 ,^■^^^ny nKcfoolec created by a .state of 
war, against restoring to Africa her long oppressed sons, the Rev. 
Robert Finley, a respectable clergyman in New-Jersey, "of great 
humanity and benevolence," took the first eflicient step to organ- 
ize an association for colonizing free people of color on the western 
coast of Africa. He was a man of untiring perseverance, of the 
most active zeal, of exemplary piety, of sincerity and humility, and 
well qualified for so great a work. He had bestowed upon it much 
<leep reflection ; and having come to the conclusion that the plan 
T7as practicable, and that the benefits would be unspeakably great 



[11] 

in reference to the country, to the blacks themselves, anH *- ^^^^ 
ca, he repaired to Washington, in Decemb- -^^ ^^^ the pur'^ose 
of enlisting several distinsu -^;^-^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ j^-^ ^j^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ 
Irom house to ^^^^^^^^ and from chamber to chamber, to bespeak for 
,V.l project a favorable consideration. His efforts proving success- 
ful, he called a meeting and organized a society, on the 28th of De- 
cember, 1816. True, he did not long survive — but he saw in pros- 
pective the slaves freed from their bondage, and restored to the land 
of their fathers, and Africa raised from her degradation, to take her 
stand among the nations of the earth. He was not permitted like 
Moses from Mount Nebo, to see the goodly land, with his natural 
eyes ; but like Moses he died with the full assurance, that Africa 
would be reclaimed and redeemed. He might have said of Africa as 
Moses spake of Israel : " Happy art thou, O Africa ; who is like 
unto thee, O people saved of the Lord, the shield of thy help, and 
who is the sword of thy excellencv ! and thine enemips shall be found 
liars umo uicc, anu uiou sualt tread upon their high places." 

At this meeting Bushrod Washington presided, and it was compo- 
sed of gentlemen from different sections of the United States, whose 
confidence was strengthened, by the zeal and full assurance of the 
reverend progenitor of the scheme. Fame will claim this little band 
as hers, and the name of Finley will be inscribed high on her roll. — - 
The novelty, and vastness of the undertaking, precluded for a while, 
the adoption of any efficient measures for commencing the colony, 
farther than to prepare the public for co-operating in it. The 
scheme was without governmental patronage, and without funds ; 
and had nothing to recommend it, but its own intrinsic merits. It 
had to encounter prejudices of opposite characters. At the south, 
it was represented to be a scheme of the free states, to lessen the 
political power of the slaveholding states, and to spread a general 
discontent among the slaves, which in time would break out into 
open and devastating rebellion. At the north, it was said, the scheme 
originated with the slaveholders, whose motives were to send off a 
lew of the more enlightened free blacks, that they might rivet more 
firmly the fetters of the slaves. The war left us burdened with a 
national debt, of about $130,000,000, and the people greatly em* 
harraeoori i^y opoov»io.tio«o in bank stock, and othcr property, and 
by overtrading. Property thrnne-bnn* iU^ «.>..^*„j, :„ <;„<» ^caio fell 
fifty per cent, in value, and in very many instances our most enter- 
prising citizens, who had fondly anticipated they were accumulating 
fortunes, on being pressed for their debts, learned with sorrow they 
were bankrupts. The society depended on voluntary contributions 
to prosecute her designs, and these could not be obtained, for the 
reasons assigned. In no wise daunted by these embarrassments, 
several pious, patriotic, humane, and benevolent persons, were un- 
remitting in their devotion to the cause. Knowing its success, un- 



der Providence, depended wholly on public sentiment; they spent 

~~ *~ «f their time in removing the prejudices, which designin"^ or 

raucuo. ^ - ^-'♦'^d against it, and in demon.strating the prac- 

raisguided men had exc^ • „u^^^^ ^c \ „•„ j- • r 

. ».,. c ^ ,.■ t ~ ,^ "'^^res ©1 Ainca ; and m infor- 

ticability of plantmg a colony on ine ». ,^^^^ 

cing the benefits that would follow to this country, i^ ... '-^'^'j <^"y 
to Africa. Never have exertions been crowned with more favoit^-' 
ble lesults. Opposition has been arraigned before the judgment 
seat of reason, and has confessed her error ; and prejudice, the 
most unconquerable enemy to the success of any benevolent mea- 
sure, has yielded to the light of truth. There are some lamentable 
exceptions to these remarks. 

Fourteen states have passed resolutions approving the plan of 
colonization, and almost every ecclesiastical body in the United. 
States, has recommended the society to the patronage of the chris- 
tian community. 

In 1819, the Rev. Mr. Mills, who in early life v/as distinguished 

tor tils zeal m iw^f^.. ..^„: , „..u r_. u:. pV.;ionthrnny- wWh Mr. 

Burgess, embarked for Africa, by the way of England, lor the pur- 
pose of obtaining information as to the suitableness of the western 
coast of Africa, for establishing a colony ; and having visited Sierra 
Leone, and the intermediate posts to Sherbro, he set sail for the 
United States in May 1820, and died on his passage. The christian 
spectator thus spoke of the voyage, and of Mr. Mills' death: "The 
memory of this voyage is consecrated in the hearts of christians, b)- 
the fact, that soon after they left Africa, Samuf 1 John Mills, the man 
of God, whose name is so intimately associated with almost ever}- 
great moral improvement which has been made on our continent, fin- 
ished this work which God has given him to do, and entered on his 
reward in Heaven." 

By the act of congress of the 2d of March, 1807, prohibiting the 
slave trade after the time limited in the constitution should expire, 
it was provided, that all Africans brought into the United States in 
violation of the act, might be disposed of, as the legislature of the 
respective states and territories should prescribe. The legislature 
of Georgia, directed they should be sold after sixty days notice, un- 
less the colonization society would take them and pay all expenses 
incurred by the state after their capture and condemnation. Thir- 
tv-eisht negroes, thus captured, were advertised for sale on the 3d 
of May. loii^, ai me capnoi ur ocuigia. The colonization society 
availing itself of the provision of the act of Georgia, " paid the ex- 
penses incurred by the state, and rescued the victims of piratical cu- 
pidity from a perpetual slavery." If there are any present who en- 
tertain the idea that the objector tendency of the society is to per- 
jietuatc or extend slavery, I request them to consider this humane 
and benevolent act, (and many others nright be cited,) as strong, if 
not conclusive evidence, against the opinion they have formed 



[13] 

The first vessel thai sniled Tor Africa with (.'iniu rants, was the 
Elizabeth, in 1820, about four years after the organization of the 
society. She caijied out an agent of the society, two agents of the 
government, and about ciiihty emigrants, a part of whom were the 
captured Africans. No territory at this time had been purchased, 
and the vessel discharged (hf party at the Island of She) bro, situate 
near the coast, between Sierra Leone, and cape Montserado. Sher- 
bro was in the possession of a black from South Carolina, by the 
namt ^^^izzcl, who had joined the British during the revolutiona- 
ry war ana i*?-"*^ established a small colony on the Island in an un- 
healthy situation. T^^ agents supposed he was friendly to the 
cause of colonization ; but :h^''^ a^^ reasons for believing, the great 
sacrifice of human lite, was occasioL'i^d by the bad quality of the 
^yater, which he recommended as being healthy ;^but which it was 
afterwards discovered he did not use himself. The three agents, 
and thirty-five of th? emigrants, soon paid the debt of nature. The 

«;oUr,ocj r.f fhp cijrw;..'>"" "-^ .-_— .J:-..,.1j,.^U„»^!.oJ, cu tliclr remo- 
val to a more healthy situation. ^._ 

In December 1831, Dr. Aytes, the Society's Agent, with Lieut. 
Stockton of the Navy, alter overcoming difficulties of no ordinary 
character, made a treaty with seveial Kings and head men, for the 
site at Cape Montserado, unparalleled on the coast foi its elevation, 
healthiness, and beauty. From this period the efficient operations 
of the Society should be dated. The Kings who made the grant, 
under the influence of the slave dealers, in the month of December 
1822, attempted to regain possession of the ceded territory by force ; 
and attacked the settlement with 800 men, which during the siege, 
were increased to 1500, who weie repulsed by 28 men and boys, the 
entire • fficient force of the colony. Mr. and Mrs. Ashmun, with 
35 colonists, and 15 captured Africans, arrived at the colony from 
Baltimore on the 8th of Augi'st 1822, and the defence of the settle- 
ment, aided by a kind and preserving providence, was mainly owing 
to the cool and intrepid valor of Mr. Ashmun, who united in an emi- 
nent depee, those high qualities which fitted him for the difficult and 
responsible station he voluntarily tendered his services to fill. After 
having resided at the colony several years, during which time he or- 
ganized the tjovernrnent, established schools and churches, his 
health became impaired, and he returned to New Haven in Connec- 
ticut, with tlie hope a. cliaugc uf unmaic iiugiii iciicw uis constitu- 
tion ; but after linrering a short time, his earthly career was termi- 
nated by death, to the grief of thousands on both contments. When 
this last expedition was fitted out, personal aid was sought for the 
specific object, by Bishop Mead, one of the Society's earliest and 
most steadfast friends, and by Charles Fenton Mercer, (both of Vir- 
ginia) whose benevolence extends to the whole human family. They 
"isited Baltimore, and begged from house to house, in behalf of on 



L 14] 

cxpctiltion, whose departure, as if enliglitened by the spirit of pro- 
phecy, they believed was destined to preserve the existence of the 
colony.* 

I wish this venerable prelate, and his zealous coadjutor, were 
here to address you in behalf of a cause that has been grossly mis- 
represented or misunderstood. I am quite certain, the vivid repre^ 
sentations they would give you of the evils of slavery, as they are 
experienced and ac';nowledged, by thousands and tens of thous^'^-^j^g 
at the south — of the apprehensions they entertain, that 'j^^^ ^^^ p^^, 
perty will eventually be put at imminent hazard, '^^^'less the black po- 
pulation shall be removed— and of the te^'^^x compassion they feel 
for this degraded and injured portion of the human family, would 
obliterate every unkind feeling you may have entertained against 
many of the slave holders— and their pathetic appeals to your hu- 
manity for aid, would be responded to by liberal contributions. In 
1821, the colony consisted of 140, and in 1824, of 240, and in 1832 
of 2001, CAclus'nv K^C loo ♦-.j,t«i\>v'. ^\^a:w„„„, «.u= ^,..^., ^<.««oi-cd ttr 
their country at the expense of the United States. The number of 
scholars taught in three schools, on the 2d of January 1832, was 
175; and the branches taught were spelling, writing, arithmetic, 
geography, and grammar. The colony now falls but little if any 
short of 3000. The commerce of the colony is in a most prosper- 
ous and flourishing condition. The exports consist principally of 
dye woods, ivory, hides, gold, palm oil, and rice, whose value in 
1831, amounted to ^88,911, and were considerably more than the 
value of the exports from the whole of the Connecticut Reserve by 
the Lake, in any one of the first twenty years after the settlements 
commenced. Coffee, and the tropical fruits, grow spontaneously, 
and the soil and climate are favorable to the culture of cotton. The 
name of Liberia was given to a site at Cape Montserado, at the 
seventh anniversary of the society, on the 20th of February 1824 — 
and denotes " a settlement of persons made free." The designation 
was given by Robert Goodlue Harper, of Baltimore, a man eminent 
for his talents, for his private virtues, and public munificence. 

The problem which remained doubtful for some time, whether 
a colony could be established, whose capacity would enable it to re- 

* Since delivering this address, I have ascertained that Bishop Mead was not with Mr. 
Mercer, ar Baltimore ; hut that it was Francis S. Key, Esq. "<"GeorKctown, one of the man- 

_ _i^., *^ _!.„;__.. __ <:• J ■»" r, •' 1 ••"■xmr. nui viuiit-c, or Baltimore, Spent 

fifteen days in personally soliciting pecuniary aid, to defray the cost of the first mission (that 
of Mr. Mills and Burgess) to Africa ; and their exertions were amply rewarded, by the hos- 
pitable and humane citizens of that city. My allusion to the transaction was to disprove the 
assertions made by the abolitionists, that the founders and supporters of the Colonization 
Society, do not seek to mitigate the evils of slavery ; and the proof is in no wise weakened by 
correcting the eiror. 1 was led to commit it, from misapprehending Mr. Mercer in some re- 
marks he made before an adjourned meeting of the Colonization Society last winter ; in which 
I understood him to refer to Bishop Mead, as the person who was with him at Baltimore : 
and that it was preparatory to the sailing of Mr. Ashmun. Bishop Mead, it is well known, 
has been for years, most zealously engaged in the cause of colonization, and has visited the 
southern states in its aid. 



[ io j 

ceive any large portion of the black population ol this country, is 
solved. Such a colony is established ; and in its commerce, gen- 
eral prosperity, order and good government, challenges the history 
of all preceding ages for a parallel. In the providence of God, all 
great undertakings, materially effecting the condition of nations, 
have been beset with difficulties and embarrassments — the timid 
and irresolute have been alarmed ; and they have hankered " after 
the flesh pots of Egypt," and those possessed of the most ardent 
faith have at times doubted, whether they should pass over Jordan. 
It is beyond our comprehension, that Mills, Ashmun, and others, 
who have fallen martyrs to the cause of colonization, should have 
been removed from their spheres of usefulness, when so much appa- 
rently depended upon them : but who shall instruct God in wisdom, 
or dictate to him in accomplishing. his designs, or set bounds to 
his power ! An attentive perusal of thp hnnda<rp onri nu^^otion of 
ttie tJijiiuicii ur io.aci, would eaily, and greatly instruct any one, 
inclined to oppose the restoration of the blacks to their country. 

We have all marvelled again and again, that this chosen people 
should have been doomed to waste forty years of their lives, in tra- 
versing a wilderness before they were permitted to enter into the land 
of promise ; and we have heaved a sigh of regret, that neither Aaron 
nor Moses, was permitted, after so much labor, toil and hardship, 
after having borne with patience the murmuring of their brethren — ■ 
to enter the confines of the inheritance of their nation. 

In the great work of restoring the descendants of Ham to the 
land of their fathers, and in civilizing and christianizing one entire 
quarter of the globe, the United States have been selected as the 
meet instrument. 

Granville Sharp, took an active part in colonizing Africa as early 
as 1 783 ; and he " may be regarded as the founder of Sierra Leone. 
Although this settlement has been under the fostering care of the 
British African Institution, it has accomplished but little in civilizing 
the natives. The American Colonization Society, has accomplish- 
ed more in the period of ten years, to remove the gloom of night 
from Africa, than has been achieved by all the European powers. I 
am aadroooing o ohristiaii dudicnce, who believe the words of inspi- 
ration will be fulfilled. Yon pntprfflin nr. An.,^ht th^ t:„,z. «»ni — :^^, 
(and you have thought you have seen the twilight of the glorious 
day,) when the heathen nations shall be converted and take a stand 

among the civilized, polished, and intelligent nations of the earth. 

How is the blackness of darkness to be dispelled from Africa ? 

" which is still to us, what it was to the ancients thousands of 
years ago— the land of mystery." Although " its coasts lie in sight 
of the most civilized countries in Europe, yet we know nothing more 
than its outlines ; and into the interior, tlie foot of an European has 
lately for the first time penetrated." In the period of Egypt's great- 



L 16] 

est prosperity, deep night seems to have enveloped the surrounding 
countries. Subsequently, the Greeks and the Romm-, became 
better acquainted with the iMediterrauean coast of Atrica, and pen- 
etrated into the interior, peihaps as far as the river Johba or the 
Niger; but their knowledge never reached beyond the confines of 
Numidia, and they were totally ignoiant of the southern part of Af- 
rica. Its outlini^s were not determined until the I5ih century." — 
Mungo Park, a recent traveller, supposed the Joliba, or the Niger of 
Herodotus, to run from west to east ; but where its waters were dis- 
charged into the sea, if they were discharged at all, remained a pro- 
found mystery, until it was ascertained by the Landers in 1830^ that 
they emptied into the Gulf of Guinea, at the cape of Formoso. 

Do any of you entertain the vain expectation, that the word of life 
will be disseminated, through "that vast continent, by Missionaries 
fium B«v^P- — A rtxoArn 1 Hniv lonsf have the heralds of salvation 
proclaimed the risen Saviour to the savages ot uui vjw^n uuumry, and 
to the heathen nations of Asia 1 and how many trophies have they 
won 1 Suppose the gospel had been conveyed by their own kin- 
dred, how diffeu-nt do you suppose would have been the result? — 
Where will you fiud European or American Missionaries, in suffi- 
cient numhev to instruct 150,000,000 of barbarians ; scattered over 
12,256,000 square miles, stretching from 18 degrees of west, to the 
olst of east longitude, and from the 34th degree ot south to the 37th 
30 minutes of north latitude, in a region, a part of which at least, 
they must encounter "the lifeless atmosphere of the tropics, where 
the heat of the sun is so terrible, that eggs are roasted in the sand, 
and the naked feet of the negroes aie blistered." Or do you sup- 
pose the whole economy of God is to be changed, and this great 
work is to be accomplshed without the use ot instruments ? that he 
will say as he did at the creation, when "darkness was upon the 
face of the deep— let there be light I" What part of divine inspira- 
tion has taught you, that without the use of means, " the spirit of 
God will move" over Africa, as it " moved upon the face of the wa- 
ters 1 " It is true we read, " nations shall be born in a day," but 
we are informed also " the fallow ground" is to be prepared for the 

reception of the seed. 

ic : ,^.,f„;i ♦v.^r^ -..« ;« \e,'\no 1 .^O Ijiuriiagres spoken, of which 

70 only are known to the civilized world. II you send civilization 
by Africans, not merely as missionmies, but by the formation of 
colonies, you disai m jealousy and discoid, and you inspire that con•^ 
(idencc, which will alone insure success. The influence of the col- 
ony has already had the most happy effect upon two of the neigh- 
boring tribes, whose kings have sent their children to the colony, to 
be instructed in the schools, and to be taiiijht the mechanicrti and 
agricuUural arts. The negroes are a simple, honest, inofleasive, 
but timid people, n-ithout a single trait of the savage ferocity that 



L 17, J 

aistingulshed the aborigines of this country. Their kindness and hos- 
p tXy to the Landers, generally, would do honor to refined society 
They have towns, and villages, whose markets are supplied mUi 
rorn rice beef, mutton, different kinds of fowls, fish, butter, cheese, 
na m oil bean and peas ; and in some of the larger towns, thou- 
sands attend the market in a day. Bohoo, more than thirty 
days tralel from the coast, in the kingdom of Yarriba is incbsed by 
three walls, and in circumference is about 20 miles It is not as 
compact, as the towns and cities in more ^'^'^^f J"t^Xen ac 
countries ; but Its population is vastly beyond vvhat we ^^^^^^ ^e^"^^ 
customed to think any town in the interior of Africa possessed^ The 
land in many parts of Western Africa lately explored is of a d^^^^^^ 
rich soil, and will not lose by a comparison with the richest sections 
of England. The late explorations of western and central Atrica, 
have furnished us with much information essentially necessary in 

is a'^-randem in the conception, that throws into the shade the estab- 
lishment of all other colonies, of which history gives us any account. 
A people have been torn from their country by violence, and have 
been sold into bondage. At a time when their labor is productive-- 
when more than five hundred millions of money is vested m them, it 
is proposed to restore them by their consent, to their country and to 
freedom : and not only so, but to instruct, civilize and christianize 
them. Let your contemplations extend to the termination ot but 
one century, and see the rich and fertile lands of Africa partitioned 
into farms, and cultivated by an intelligent, moral and industrious 
people. See her coasts, her bays, her inlets, and her noble rivers, 
whitened with the sails of every nation ; not for the purpose ot cap- 
turing her sons, but in the prosecution of a legitimate commerce.— 
See her villages, her towns, and her cities rising into splendor, ad- 
ministering to the comforts and convenience, and luxury, ot ner in- 
habitants. See that vast continent divided into different Kepuoiics . 
Go to her halls of legislation, and listen to the wisdom of her lawgiv- 
ers ; and to her courts of justice, and examine the pure ermine ot 
her ludges ! Enter her temples, and mingle in the devotions ot tne 
altar, and see the prediction verified, that " the heathen shall casr 

their idols to the molfis and to thp. Hate " r i. . * /• ' Ml 

I am incapable of drawing even a faint outline of what Atnca will 
be in a century, if this plan of colonization shall be prosecuted. It 
is in our power to repair, in a great measure at least, the injuries, 
that not only this country, but all other nations have inflicted on Af- 
rica. The United States was the first power that declared the slave 
trade piracy, and provided by law for the punishment of the offence 
by death. We have exhibited to the world how odious we consider 
this traic, by declaring the perpetrators of it to be outlaws, and by 



[ 18 ] 

subjecting- them to the same punishment, that is inflicted on the ene 
mies of the human race. 

Let us not stop here, but march on in the van of other nations in 
the great work of rescuing Africa from the deep night that has so 
long enveloped her in more than Egyptian darkness. " The vallev 
oi the Nile, was once the cradle of commerce, the arts and sciences*- 
Syria, and Greece, and Italy, were indebted to Africa," for whatever 
ot renown they possessed. Let this nation in the ardor of her youth- 
*ui enterprises, restore to Africa the arts and sciences, of which she 
nas so long been bereft. 

Do any of you doubt the practicability of civilizing Africa ? Why 

^s this more difficult than to civilize people in other quarters of the 

feioDe ? ihe most enlightened, polished, intelligent and refined por- 

°^l° u ^^°P®' tradition and history inform us, were more savage 

ana barbarous than Africa now is ; and more can be achieved by 

eighteen centuries ago, to have performed in the period of fifty years 
It has been said the condition of the blacks at the colony, is more 
miserable than it was in this country. On this point I only ask you 
to examine the evidence, and decide the question as you would, if you 
were called upon to decide a contested question in the jury box, or 
to administer justice on the bench. Thus situated, you would ex- 
amine the testimony with care, and if you found it conflicting, you 
would ascertain the number of the witnesses called by each party, 
their means of having the facts about which they were called to give 
testimony ; and you would become thoroughly acquainted with their 
characters^ and the motives that might influence them in pervertimr 
the truth. f '^ 

Were I concerned for the colony, I would present to vou the tes- 
timony of Dr. Ayres, Mr. Ashmun, Dr. Randall, and Dr. Ander- 
son, agents for the society— who resided at Liberia, and must have 
been intimately acquainted with the condition of the inhabitants, and 
with their comforts or their wants. They died martyrs to the cause, 
and their testimony is consecrated by their dying declarations. Mr. 
Ashmun in the last supplication he audibly addressed to his heavenly 
t ather, a tew hours before his death, while " the perspiration flowed 
irom his oallid brow, and every. feature CAnressed death." tliuo uiu- 
sented the colony lor the benediction of that Being into whose pre- 
sence he was sensible his disembodied spirit would soon appear: 
'' O bless the colony, and that poor people among whom I hare la- 
boured," 

I would present the testimony of Lieut. Dashiel, and of Richard 
Seton, of the United States, and Lieut. Gordon of th« British Navy, 
and of three missionaries from Switzerland, and of several others) 
>Tho have voluutavily met death in the service of a cause they belie- 



L 19 3 

ved demanded the sacrifice. I would ask you to listen to the testi 
mony of captains Spence, Stockton, Nicholas and Kennedy of the 
United States navy, and to captains Sherman and Abels, and to the 
agents that have been sent from different sections of the United 
States, by the colored people, for the purpose of obtaining correct 
information, and to the most intelligent of the colonists and to 
the testimony of Mr. Devany, high sheriff of the colon)^ taken be- 
fore a committee of the House of Representatives, m May, 1830. 
If you scan the characters of these witnesses, you will find them un- 
impeached, and unimpeachable. The testimony of some of them, has 
been given under oath ; of others, under the weight of no ordinary 
confidence reposed in them; and again, of others on their deathbeds 
—a situation the most likely to elicit the truth. I would challenge 
my opoonent in the face of this testimony (if he had not left the court; 
to bring forward his witnesses. And who do you think they are . 
menV tele PiSi^z^ytewoKdestftutTof economy, and would have 
found fault with Providence, if they had been placed m the garden 
of Eden : or a few fanatics, whose intellects on some subjects are 
partially deranged : or a few editors, who cannot support a newspaper 
without creating, and keeping up an excitement. There may be 
some politicians offered upon the stand, who would be glad to see 
the government tumble into ruins ; and perhaps some who are slave 
holders, and slave dealers, who have become alarmed from the ap- 
prehension, that the moral influence of the society will eventuallj 
rid the country of slaves. To all these witnesses, except the first 
class, I would object, on the well settled principle, that hearsay tes- 
timony is inadmissible. They know nothing themselves m the case. 
There is not a person here, unless his judgment is blinded by pre- 
judice of no ordinary kind, who would not give a verdict in favor of 
the colony without leaving the box. When I speak of fanatics, I 
do not include all who are opposed to the colonization society. — 
There are many men who have honestly formed the opinion, not 
from evidence, but from the declarations of others— that the officers 
and managers of the colonization society, have been guilty of a de- 
reliction of duty, or that they have been governed by sinister mo- 
tives, and do not desire to lessen the evils of slavery ; but whose ob- 
ject th©v *Viint is tn pprpAfnatp clnvp.rr. hv fip.nrlinff off tbfi mnst in- 
telligent free blacks. 1 would request such persons to ascertain, 
■who the officers of the society hav« been, and now are, and what 
foundation there is for so serious a charge. You will find them men 
of pure characters, of strict integrity, and of disinterested benevolence 
and humanity. Men who have rendered important services to the 
country In her councils, in the field, on the bench, in the halls of 
legislation, and in the desk. The first President was Bushrod 
AVa8hington: after his death, Charles Carrol was appointed : and after 



I 20 ] 

his death, James Madison, who is now in office. Among the Vice 
Presidents, I will enumerate Judge Marshal, Gen. La Fayette, Hen- 
ry Clay, Bishop White, Daniel Webster, Charles F. Mercer, Pres- 
ident Day, Bishop McKendree, John Cotton Smith, and Theodore 
Frelinghuysen. 

The managers sustain the highest respectability, and have be- 
stowed years of labor in the cause, without any pecuniary compen- 
sation. Their reward is the approbation of their consciences, and the 
consoling reflection, that they have discharged their responsible duties 
vvith zeal and fidelity, and with an eye single to the benefit of the Afri- 
can race. The secretary is the Rev. R. R. Gurley, who with the 
other officers named, is ex-officio a member of the board of mana- 
gers. He has devoted several years of his valuable life in advan- 
cing the cause of colonization ; and amor pure, upright and benev- 
olent man I have never found; and to him, as much as to any one 
man, is m^ nvu^i i.^-w.,j .£•_. .v„ j- ^ ^•,ir;«?h;np-r»nnri;f: — .»i*«i«o 

colony. 

These are the men, with their compeers, whose motives are 
condemned without the slightest evidence; the more effectually 
to awaken your jealousy, and to cause you to withhold your 
confidence and support from the society. If it was the object of 
the officers and managers to rivet more firmly the letters of the 
slaves, as you have been told it is, by a man whose testimony stands 
before you impeached, why, I ask of you, have they rescued the cap- 
tive Africans from the operations of the laws of Georgia, and retur-. 
ned them to their country 1 Why have they encouraged, and still 
do encourage the manumission of slaves, on condition of their being 
sent to Africa? Of all the falsehoods that have been fabricated to 
deceive a humane, and confiding people, this is the most infamously 
base ; and is so proven to be, by every act of the society. The act 
of May, 1820, declaring the slave trade piracy, owes its existence to 
Charles Fenton Mercer, an officer of the society. He followed this 
up by a resolution he introduced into the house of representatives, 
" requesting the President of the United States to enter upon and to 
])rosecute from time to time, such negotiations with the several mai- 
atime powers of Europe, and America, as he may ileeiu PApcdimt, 
for the eftectual aboHtion of the African slave trade, and its ultimate 

ilciiuuvi^t; — — t--..-j, -J-- *i-- 1 r..c.iK...o hj (lie consent of 

the civilized world" — which passed almost unanimously towards 
t le close of the 17th congress. Immediately after the passage of 
tills resolution, Mr. Adams, then Secretary of State, opened a cor- 
respondence vvith Mr. Canning, the British Minister at Washington, 
and with the European and American governments, with the view 
of bringing some general concert of action by the civilized powers 
of the world, to put a stop to the nefarious traffic in human beings. 
The British govemment was unwilling for a while to give up her fa.- 



[ ^i ! 

vorite proposition, ot stipulating for the right of search-a principle 
most odious to us. This government was informed by \ iscount de 
Chateaubriand on behalf of the French government, that such was 
the influence of the slave holders in her colonies, that no mmister in 
France was strong enough, to carry our proposition through the 
chamber of deputies. , , 

Most of the European and American powers have, however, en- 
tered into such stipulations. . .1, t 

Notwithstanding these arrangements were the most energetic that 
could have been devised, and although they have been executea by 
some of the powers in good faith, it is a well ascertained lact, that 
the slave trade still exists to an extent that shocks humanity. It is 
computed that there have been annually for several years iOO^WO 
slaves deported from Africa. The number of slaves ^apt^^'^'Jc/ 
British vessels, and emancipated, in nine years, from 1819 to i»^» 

J. ' .,7 , j^ J, --->j *o,<»o4. tijv/ ncdii bickens lU 

reviewing the wr'ongsVf Africa. It is stated in the Enyclopedia A- 
mericana *' that within two centuries and a half, Afiicahas con- 
tributed forty millions of vigorous men to the slave trade, and not- 
withstanding is any thing but depopulated." 

The trade is arrested along the coast for about two hundred miles, 
extending to the north of Sierra Leone, and south of Libeiia. Ex- 
perience incontestibly establishes the fact, that no other mode will 
stop this inhuman traffic, than by establishing colonies along the 
coast. Do you desire it should be terminated ] Are your feelings 
shocked that so many human beings prematurely suffer the most ex- 
cruciating death, by being crammed into slave ships, "enclosed un- 
der grated hatchways between decks, where the space is so low that 
they set between each others' legs, and stowed so close together, that 
there is no possibility of their lying down, or at all changing their po- 
sition night or day," where they scarcely have food enough to sus- 
tain animal life, and where a drop of water is as earnestly supplica- 
ted, as it was by the rich man in torment 1 Or do you revolt at the 
idea, that the survivors are to waste their lives in bondage 1 If so, 
enlist under the banner of the colonization society, and you will ef- 
fectviallj put Q st'jp tw -a repetition of these cruelties. Not only will 
Africa be civilized, and the slave trade abolished, but this country 

will bo fr-o<^A ^e ^ -.— ^- -^ ^-^..i_x:- u„ i-u — . 4.:^^ ^CiU^ ..^^ 

ciety, and in a manner entirely acceptable to the slave holders, and 
without producing any commotion ; and without violating any fea- 
ture of the constitution. The society is constantly gaining strength 
at the south, the field of its operations ; and the hearts of thousands 
are inclined to free their slaves, when the funds of the society shall 
defray the expense of their emigration. Although it appears to very 
many, even of those who are in favor of colonization, that but little 
has been done for the time the society has had an existence, my own 



L ^2 j 

C'pinlon is, that as much has been accomplished as is consistent with 
the welfare and perpetuity of the settlement. The emigrants should 
be sent no faster, than they can be provided for when they arrive, 
and not in such numbers as to endanger the peace and good order of 
the government. I am firm in the belief, if it was thought advi- 
sable in relation to the colony, to press emigration, and the socie- 
;y had funds at its disposal, that ten thousand slaves would immedi- 
itely be offered by their owners, on the condition they should be 
;ent to Liberia. There is no want of subjects, nor will there be at 
iny time hereafter ; but they will be gratuitously purchased, as the 
;ause of civilization shall progress in Africa. 

The liberal appropriations made by the states of Maryland, Virgin- 
a and Kentucky, in aid of colonization, are cheering indications, 
hat the time is not far distant when the blacks will be removed from 
hese states, and their places supplied by a more useful, industrious 
.nJ IntoUlgoKYf poiviilntinn. 

I have seen an article" republished, whicn ongmaiiy appeared in 
he Genius of Temperance, designed to mislead the public in relation 
o the views of the American and Maryland colonization societies. — 
rhc main point in the article is, that the American colonization so- 
iety does not contemplate emancipation, nor to benefit the slave. 
I'hile the Maryland colonization society takes a different stand, and 
las taken a step for the avowed purpose of abolishing slavery. 1 
ay the article was designed to mislead ; because 1 cannot believe 
he writer was so ignorant as not to know he was making a misrep- 
esentation. The American colonization society never has, by any 
,ct nor by any declaration, said it did not contemplate emancipation, 
lor to benefit the slave. These may be ranked among its primary 
bjects, to be effected by the force of moral influence. They have 
aid they did not contemplate to interfere in the right of property, 
lOr directly disturb the relationship that exists between the master 
nd the slave. They act by moral influence, and by that alone ; and 
bus far it has been found to be more potent than was anticipated. — ■ 
riiis is proven by the number sf slaves voluntarily tendered to the so- 
iety ; and by the number of auxiliar-y societies established through- 
ut the southern country ; and by the prnp^cdineje m several sAa.te. 
jgislatures ; and by the increase of friends to the cause. The views 
f'the two societies are the same, and the greatest harm on v exisf* 
^ ^ — , ^. .. V. 1.^.1. la any uisseniion or distrust, it has arisen 

'om the apprehension that the American colonization society may 
ossibly be influenced by evil counsellors, who will press the ques- 
on of immediate abolition, without making adequate provision for 
emovinj^ the blacks to Africa. 

The Maryland colonization society, may contemplate the estab- 
shmentof a colony at Cape Palmas ; and if so, I think the project 
'ill be fully approved by the general society. If the states would 



[ ^3 J 

undertake the colonization of their own blacks, the general society 
would be relieved from a part of the responsibility that rests upon it, 
and funds would be more liberally contributed. If the operation of 
the society shall rid this country 'of the blacks, and within a period 
as soon as it is consistent with the interests and the welfare of both 
master and slave ; and if the slave trade shall cease longer to exist : 
and if Africa shall be civilized and christianized ; 1 appeal to you* 
whether the society does not merit your hearty co-operation and sup- 
port 1 That all this will be accomplished, I entertain do doubt, un- 
less prevented by the new scheme of immediate abolition. 

If the position has been maintained, that the colonization society 
merits your confidence, little need be said in opposition to immedi> 
ate abolition. Two objections exist against it. 1st, it is not practi- 
cable ; and 2d, if it was, it is not expedient. It is not practicable, 
without the consent of the slave holding states, which cannot, under 
anvnirnnrnst.ances.be oK*--'----' -•>«--' ^j jjcisuasion or force. I 
have touched on the condition of the states before the constitution 
was formed, and we all know the general government was establish 
ed by the people of the respective states ; each state surrenderiuff a 
part of Its sovereignty, for the general benefit of all of them We 
have seen that the interest the master had in his shve, was guaranteed 
to him by the constitution, and that the value of this property a^ this 
time amounts to more than five hundred millions ot dollars The hoi 
dersofthis property would not generally surrender it at once, because 
in very many cases, bankruptcies must inevitably follow : but more 
weighty objections exist with them ; which are that the slaves are in 
a better condition than they would be, if they were suffered to re- 
main m this country ; and that both castes in the proportion they ex- 
ist in the southern states, could not live together in a state of freedom 
1 he abolitionists demand, that the entire value of the property in^ 
vested in slaves, shall be immediately sunk to the owners^ 4nd 

tt nHnn 1 ^T""^ "^'^' •. ^^''' '^' '^''' ^^^'^^^^ h^- born; on 
the pnnciple of representation, their propoUion of the debt incurred 
hj the revolutionary war, and the late war with Great Britain It 
dZTo l°j;^^^'*7°."'d have been more magnanimous, more in accor- 

rates of the white population. Do they propose to give any com' 
pensation for this sacrifice of property ? or to grant any equivalent' 
so that the states shall be placed on a footingof equality as they were 
before the union was formed? I have heard of none. All must ner- 
ceive the loss falls on one portion of the United States. If the slaves 
must be immediately emancipated, inasmuch as the evil is national 
ought not the owners to be paid their value from a fund to be raised 
by levying direct taxes 1 As the holding of slaves bv others, is made a 



L 24 ] 



?v llobilc to pa, his proportion of such tax, if by his influence the 
venire to L'ema.icip'ated The whole wh.te l-Pf Uon of the 
United States, according to the last census .s ^^'^f f ^8 ( ^^^^ f 
Ohio, 928,093 ; and ot Portage county, \8,S27 and l\J^}^fg: 
1,218. The amount to be paid by the state of <^hiO's $44 072,168 , 
b'v Po.tage county, $889,077 52-100; and by Tajlmadge, $^^^^^^^ 
,71 68.100. The - on every whUe person m he U.ted^S^^^^^^^^ 

i'vl^rtU'e'n'l^omllL bere've Ls the lowest value tixed by the 
^:^^:Z:r the treaty of Ghent ; and it is tbe lowest amount 
paid by the United States, for negroes captured by the Indians 
^ I will leave it to yourselves to estimate the a'^°^^^\^^;;^„°"^^^^^^^ 
nav accuim..£, .- /t-~ ...1.,^ r.c hlc, nronerty. If you consider inis 

leas. P<>j'"'»-„^X:rth^ca" abfet bear i.. If .here wa^ no 

other impeaimeui ui t j, cnnthern states to emancipate 

volyed sou could not ?■•-- ™ .^^^""^Y.'f we were in .heir'si.- 
,he,r ^I'ves a once. J^";' ™^^^, .^^ „^ect, force will be .hen 
uation. II pcisuasion win " pv„rcised in a ma.tcr clearly 

recommended ; and wh.n ih.s shal be ^l'J"^°^^^;^^„^^, This 
without .he cons.itut,on, the "^"^"i'i^tes „m ^ ""'"^ '"" ^""• 

;l"^ i^t:rJ thrfi;;;t,:at^t; is woum fouow .ha. 

itas led in .he fore parto. -l^^^f,<'--;°;tZ: p'redomiLn« 

bute inflammatory publications, P^ f/^^ "^ he h e s.^^^^^^ 
and the inhumanity of s avery and th ™;'> ^^^^^^^^ ^^ ,-,e upon 
in^plements and mun.t.ons <^^:^'^t,:^^Z....rre. regard- 
their masters, and to carry on a ^^ ^^^ ^^ extermination 

less of age and sex. I hat tne wai j^j^^l^^ e. 

to 9P.r "io^!ira*^noW*^Vilteie^cUVte>'^?u& inen. ; IN o one 

vaiYed, wouia ^We nonne j possession of the south, and 

believes she would. I hty '^^^^ ' \j -J^ gj^tes, contiguous to Cu- 

"haUho hlachl wUh .r'aid of .heir counUymen on .1^^^^^^^^^^ 



[ 25 1 

the blacks to enjoy when they shall be emancipated % Are they to 
t ve tha rilht of citizenship ? If so, they are to be represented la 
Cono-ress to hold offices, and to have their due influence ni admm- 
i^terin'ule government. Are you willing to commit your destm.es 
Ifan? manner to them, and to mingle your counsels with theirs, on 
the ffreat questions of peace and war? , 

If the blacks were freed, and were permitted to remain in thi. 
country, their condition would be n.ore miserable and degraded than 
uTs now Such has been the case heretofore, with the excep- 
tion of a few house servants ; and we have no reason to anticipate a 
different result hereafter. If you. have any compassion for them, 1 
implore vou, in behalf of humanity, not to add to the.r wretchedness. 
I am aw^re the movements in this country, have been accelerated, 
and have orxined strength by the proceedings m the British raj»»a- 
ment >v e ":>^„,a IJ^^ our guard against any measures of the 
British "overnment, which are in any way calculated to affect our 
interests or our political connection. That government did not re- 
alize the fond hope she had cheiished, that the dissatisfaction at the 
South, would terminate in a repeal of our impost duties, or the dis- 
memberment of the Union. She knows full well how sensitive the 
Southern states are on the subject of slavery, and how easy it is to 
foment divisions among us in relation to it. The spread of liberal 
principles are alarming to her, as it is to other monarchical govern- 
ments. A dismemberment of the Union would be hailed by every 
crowned head in Christendom with joy, as it \^ould secure power 
in the hands of a few. 

I will not be over jealous of Great Britain, but would view all her 
acts having any bearing on our interests, and political connections, 
with as much charity as is consistent with a watchful vigilance for 
our peace and prosperity. I will suppose the propositions, now un- 
der discussion in Parliament, were offered in good faith, and that 
slavery will be abolished on the terms contained in Mr. Stanley's 
project. Do you entertain no fears for the consequences to the 
white population on the IcifinHs 1 I do not speak of the consequen- 
ces as to property ; for it seems to be conceded that there will inev- 
itably be a general destructi-jn of it : but I speak of the consequen- 
ces to the personal security of the whites and to thoir lives. Mr. 
Stanley, in his remarks, however, seems to think, that after about 
twelve years, the ignorant negroes in the West Indies will make 
very good citizens. If he be conect in this, how encouraging it is 
to persevere in the cause of colonization, by which the blacks are 
restored to their country, where there is no diversity of color, or 
grades in society, to awaken jealousy and ill will 1 

In the early part of the session, Earl Grey was asked the question 
what protection was to he given to the whites, if slavery should be 
abolished 1 He promptly replied, 15,000 troops were ready to sail 

D 



[26] 

for the West Indies. Is there any one here prepared to vote for 
raising a standing army, to go to the southern states, to give perma- 
nent protection to the inhabitants, whose Uves will be periled bv 
freeing the blacks ? We should all give them protection m case of 
insurrections, which would not be likely to occur very frequently, 
when the blacks have not the use of fire arms ; but how will it be 
when ihey are freemen, and shall be striving for the mastery 1 

A standing army must be kept up, not of 6,000, but of 50,000 
men, from which strong detachments must be stationed in different 
sections of tie southern states. If the blacks shall be freed, and 
this protection shall not be given, if your affections shall not be 
alienated from your brethren of the south, your hearts will be torn 
with grief, by the recital of massacres more barbarous than those of 
St. Domingo, or more recently at Scio. if slavery shall be abolish- 
ed in the British Islands, the whites will abandon them if they are 

not protected, unless tnej laii oy me nana .r „:^i» ^ UwA^ic iney 

can make their escape ; and such also will be the case in the south" 
ern states. 

But suppose I am too much alarmed — is there not some good rea- 
son to apprehend the experiment will not succeed, as well as the 
abolitionists anticipate ? Will it not be prudent for us to wait, and 
see what the result will be, if the experiment shall be tried in the 
British West India Islands 1 Is the British government eager to en- 
lighten the ignorant ; to do justice, and to relieve the oppressed ? — 
Let her commence at home, by instructing the brilliant, but uninfor- 
med children of the peasantry in Ireland ; let her restore Ireland to 
her rank as a nation ; or let her give to Irishmen the same political 
rights possessed by Englishmen. Ireland ! oppressed and degra- 
ded Ireland ! might well demand a portion of the sympathy that is 
awakened in the bosoms of Englishmen in behalf of suffering hu- 
inanity. 

It is in vain for you to attempt to shut your eyes against seeing, 
that the scheme of abolition if persisted in, and shall predominate 
in the free states, must inevitably lead to a dissolution of the Union. 

A dark cloud blackened our political horizon Hurlnjc th© paet y«ar, 

which threatened the destruction of the only free and enlightened 
Republic. You all felt the danger, and you rejoiced when you saw 
it hnrl oAaooJ tn. f^-e'iai, Aithough the pretended grievance was ur- 
ged in common by all the southern states, still there was a division 
of opinion, as to the proper remedy, and those who were the advo- 
cates of nullification were in a lean majority. It will be otherwise 
on the question of immediate abolition. No love of country, no 
attachment to the union, will disunite them ; but all will prefer a se- 
]):iration, to the immediate emancipation of their slaves. They would 
hope in that event, to be able by their own strength, or by seeking 
the protectionof some foreign power, to save their own lives from car- 



[ 27 1 

nage, and their property from pillage, and conflagration ; which 
they think, and know, would inevitably follow an immediate and 
general emancipation. 

When driven to this extremity, the humanity of Britain will be 
awakened, not in behalf of the' blacks, but of the whites, whose 
commerce and trade will give employment to her suffering poor at 
home. If the plan shall be generally sustained in the free states, a 
conflict with the south cannot be avoided if the fomenters of the ex- 
citement can -get men to go there, and imbrue their hands in the 
blood of their southern brethren. 

You agree to wage war against the south to redress the wrong? 

of the blacks. Volunteers are called for. Appeals are made to 

your justice, to your humanity, to your love of country, and to the 

obligations that bind you to relieve the oppressed. These appeals 

are made at your fire sides, at your ordinary assemblies, in your 
halJs or icgioii.i:.„^ :„ ^--^i oouris ui jusiiuc, ana irom tne deslc.— > 

The excitement is raised to a high pitch, and many an ardent youth, 
whose patriotism has been warmed by a recital of what was achiev- 
ed during the war of the revolution, pants to gain a trophy, or to 
die on the battle field ! Strike high the martial note, and present 
the enrollment! Is there a father here who will tell his son, that 
the call is that of God and his country, and that he must obey it? 

Is there a mother or wife here, who will part with the staff of her 
old age, or the partner of her sorrows and her joys, to engage in the 
conflict ] Is there a female who will tell her lover, that the solem- 
nities of the altar must be deferred until he has avenged Africa's 
wrong 1 Not one. 

You may distract the country by your exertions : you may set 
father against son, and son against father : you may sap the pros- 
perity of our literary institutions : you may engender bitter feelings 
in different sections of the union : you may alarm the fears of the 
patriot, and carry distress and agony to the bosoms of millions ; but 
I cannot believe your plan will succeed. I have full confidence this 
nation k not, in this her early history, to be given up to the horrors of 
internal rnmmotmn. This confidence arises from the stability and 
mtelligence of the people, guided by the wisdom of Him who over- 
rules all things, and has, thus far, been our Protector and our Shield. 



ERRATA."Page 5, line 9lh from top, for "government," read governors. Page 9, line 
4th from bottom, for " friendship" read happiness. Page 18, line 26th from top, for " having" 
read knowing. Page 20, line 3d from bottom, insert about before " some." Page 21, line 9th 
from bottom for "a caste" read this caste. Page 22, line 10th from top, for " purchased," 
-ead, o#ere(f. Pago 23, line 8th from bottom, for " rates "read rn^V. 



^ 



BJa'12 • . 



